Mother's Sacrifice

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and our pastor had a sermon unlike any other I've heard on Mother's Day. One particular passage stuck out to me. Most of you are probably familiar with the story of King Solomon's display of wisdom in handling the situation of two prostitutes  who came to him with a complaint. As the passage is short, I include it here for you now to read again quickly.

1 Kings 3:16-28(NIV)

¹⁶ Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
¹⁹ “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”
²² The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.
²³ The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”
²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. ²⁵ He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
²⁶ The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
²⁸ When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

As you can imagine, it was an interesting choice of Scripture for Mother's Day. And maybe I've heard this before, but this year it really hit home in a new way. I think it's hard for most of us American moms to consider the physical giving up of a child, let alone to a woman you live with who is apparently quite devious. Yet the true mother in the story was willing to sacrifice her own feelings and emotions in order that her child might have life.

I believe this struck me as profound because that is what our "birth mom" is doing/has done. Most likely, she was unable to keep her daughter because of a medical condition that she could not afford to treat. So she does what she believes best. She places her infant daughter in a place where she believes she will be found quickly in order that she can receive the medical care necessary that she can have life. Or the social stigma of having a child with a special need in China is so intense that she believes it best for her child to be placed in an orphanage. Again, I think we can't fully comprehend this as Americans. But I'd like for us to try. If we knew or thought we knew that our child could die if they stay in our home, would we not do whatever we could that they could have life? And while it seems extreme, this is the choice thousands of people around the world face.

Thankfully, most of the people reading this won't ever have to make a decision so intense. Yet on smaller levels, moms do sacrifice for their children. I read two wonderful blog posts yesterday that friends have written about their moms. The thing I love about these two moms is that they are SO completely different. And both daughters have wonderful things to say about their moms. 

First: Patsy. A cookie-baking, soccer mom extraordinaire. 
Mama Patsy  
 
Next: Edie. A no-nonsense, fun-loving, director.
Mama Edie 

So as this younger generation of moms rises up, I hope that we can remember that we are different. We have different skill sets. We aren't all going to make delicious cookies. Some of us might make terrible jello. We might not all have the gumption to speak our minds. Some of us are going to be softer. And that's okay. Regardless of our skills, I think we all make sacrifices for our children. While some might be very larger, others will be seemingly small and insignificant. And while it may take those children twenty or thirty years to understand why you parent them the way they do, I think they will understand someday. 

For my Moms

As is typical, my Mother's Day post comes days after Mother's Day. Those of you who are on Facebook no doubt read countless posts about other people's mothers. Perhaps you posted something about your mom yourself. My Mother's Day post was about my sweet Caroline, in tears, over the fact that her doll baby wouldn't take a human pacifier.

 

She actually wiped her eyes with the bottom of her dress. It was hilarious yet so true to how many of us feel as moms at times, even if we don't express those feelings in the same way.

First of all, I must say, I have a great mom. What was really cool to me as I read through my news feed on Facebook on Sunday was how so many people feel that they have the best mom ever. True, not everyone did, in fact, some stories were heartbreaking, but for the most part, moms are doing a better job than they think they are.

My church's monthly newsletter asked several people to write one thing their mom taught them. I was one of the lucky people who got to write about their mother. I thought I would share with all of you dear people what I learned from my mother. (Also, I generally call her mother when I'm irritated with her - a fact that I didn't know until she pointed it out to me in my early 20s -from here on out I'll refer to her as "mom".)

My mom is good at many things, but not everything. She is human. She is beautiful, and funny, and strong. My mom started running 5ks at age 58. She is wonderful and inspiring. She is not perfect, but she tries hard.

Mom and me at BCF Group's Christmas dinner

 One thing my mom has taught me is how to have faith. There were many times growing up when I knew finances were tight. We did not have any money, in fact, I'm pretty sure we were in debt. My mom always believed that we would make it. I've mentioned before that I love to journal. I just looked back and read some journal entries from my time away at college. I was in Jackson, Mississippi, studying at Jackson State University, and my parents were separating. It was an emotional time, for sure. I would talk to my mom on the phone every couple of days. She had been telling me of how badly she needed money. I had written prayers out in this journal. I had only truly professed Christ about 9 months before this time. The prayers I had written seemed so incredibly bold. But I believed them. Several days from that original prayer, I wrote an answered prayer. (I know some disagree about playing the lottery, and I'm not exactly sure how this 50/50 game works, but please, bear with me here). My mom won $700 in this 50/50 at her job. It was a big deal. It was a building block in my own faith. 

Mom and baby me (1985 - we had cool hair)

 This lesson and several others have served me so well as I have gone through many different trials in my adult life. Financial hardships early in our marriage, emotional hardships with a difficult pregnancy, having the faith that God knows what He is doing through our foster care experience, and more. So thanks, mom, for showing me through your life, that God is faithful, He is good, and He knows our needs.

There are probably thousands of jokes about mothers-in-law. Here is one:

David is finally engaged and is excited to show off his new bride. "Ma," he says to his mother, "I'm going to bring home three girls and I want you to guess which one is my fiance." 

Twenty minutes later, David walks in the door with three girls behind him. "It's that one," said his mother without blinking an eye. 

"Holy cow," exclaimed David, "How did you know?" 

"I just don't like her," she replied.

So David Is finally engaged, and is excited to show off his new bride. “Ma”, he said to his Mother, “I’m going to bring home three girls and I want you to guess which one is my fiance.” Sure enough twenty minutes later, David walks in the door with three girls following behind him. “It’s that one”, said his mother, without blinking an eye. “Holy cow”, exclaimed David, “how in the world did you know it was her?” “I just don’t like her”, she replied.

Read more at:

So David Is finally engaged, and is excited to show off his new bride. “Ma”, he said to his Mother, “I’m going to bring home three girls and I want you to guess which one is my fiance.” Sure enough twenty minutes later, David walks in the door with three girls following behind him. “It’s that one”, said his mother, without blinking an eye. “Holy cow”, exclaimed David, “how in the world did you know it was her?” “I just don’t like her”, she replied.

Read more at:

I didn't have grandparents living in the same state growing up, so I had very limited experience with seeing my parents interact with their in-laws. I don't have a single memory of my dad interacting with my mom's parents. And I know that my mom still has a good relationship with my dad's mom, even though my parents are now divorced. 

I am so very grateful for my mother-in-law. Our relationship has certainly grown in the nearly ten years that Trent and I have been married. I really have to give her credit for that. Every Wednesday my mother-in-law feeds my family. She invites us to her home, and makes food for us. I'll be honest, when we were first married it sometimes felt like more of a burden than a blessing. I didn't necessarily want to spend an evening with my in-laws every week. I grew up in a family who talks a lot. Before, during and after we eat we talk. Trent's family reads the newspaper. It was an adjustment. And then we started having babies. And some days those Wednesdays were hard, because my babies like routines and schedules, and that often included an early bedtime. But we went, and they loved on our kids. And  my mother-in-law makes food and dessert and reads to my kids. They have tea parties, and she surprises them with little additions to her toy area (a new hat, clip on jewelry, etc.). 

Tea party

 I have come to cherish our talks after dinner, when the kids are sent to play and she cleans up some dishes and I wipe the table. Our whole family looks forward to Wednesday nights with the Hesses. We hold tightly to those days and skip out on extracurricular things (like AWANA, Bible School, and anything else that happens to meet on Wednesday nights). I know preparing food for our gang might not be her favorite thing to do (especially because it's pretty much guaranteed that at least one child won't eat whatever she prepares), but I do appreciate it. And let's be honest, not having to prepare food once a week is a HUGE blessing to me!

My mother-in-law, Maggie, Anne, Me, Abbey, and my sister-in-law Sarah on Easter.

So thanks, to both my moms. Great job raising Trent, Maw. Great job raising me, mom. I hope that I can continue to learn from both of you for years to come.

So David Is finally engaged, and is excited to show off his new bride. “Ma”, he said to his Mother, “I’m going to bring home three girls and I want you to guess which one is my fiance.” Sure enough twenty minutes later, David walks in the door with three girls following behind him. “It’s that one”, said his mother, without blinking an eye. “Holy cow”, exclaimed David, “how in the world did you know it was her?” “I just don’t like her”, she replied.

Read more at:

So David Is finally engaged, and is excited to show off his new bride. “Ma”, he said to his Mother, “I’m going to bring home three girls and I want you to guess which one is my fiance.” Sure enough twenty minutes later, David walks in the door with three girls following behind him. “It’s that one”, said his mother, without blinking an eye. “Holy cow”, exclaimed David, “how in the world did you know it was her?” “I just don’t like her”, she replied.

Read more 

Mother's Day is on the Way

It's hard to believe that Mother's Day is right around the corner, I feel like we just celebrated Christmas!

Last year was a very busy time for me making signs that were sold through my Etsy store. I wanted to give you all some ideas for moms, and give you a gentle reminder of an order deadline. :)

MOTHER'S DAY ORDER DEADLINE - if you need your sign shipped, please order by Sunday, April 26, 2015!!! If you are local and want to pick up, please order by Tuesday, April 28, 2015. I'm currently at about a 7-10 day lead time, but I have some commitments coming up where I will not be able to work as much.

Not everything is listed in my Etsy store yet. I'm working on a small amount of inventory for us (yes, this includes me) last minute shoppers.

First up - this Jen Hatmaker quote has been my most popular sign on Etsy. At the time of this writing I have one ready-to-ship/ pick up listed in my Etsy store.

This exact sign is available here.

 If you want to customize this sign in your choice of colors, or look at a few other samples follow this link.

This sign for a laundry room/nursery is also available now.

You can find this one also listed in my Etsy Store.

This sign can be customized here.

Those two signs are currently what is trending in my Etsy Store. These makes great gifts for a husband to give to a wife. Ladies, the Etsy links seem to work well for men. Be sure to tell your husband what colors you like.

If you are shopping for YOUR mom, now that's a different story! I have a variety of signs specifically for Grandparents. The two I'm going to share with you have many different options, but none of these are listed in my Etsy Store. You may contact me on my Facebook Page : Mama Hess Painting.

Current prices for these signs are $30 (without clothespins) or $35 with clothespins. These signs are approximately 8"x24". You can customize colors and number of pins. Clothespins can be painted or stained to match your colors. I currently have two signs available.

1. Shown with a black background, cream "grandkids" and gray "make life grand". It currently does not have any pins attached but that can be done if you desire.

This sign is available now!

 2. Grandkids - Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. Shown stained "golden oak" with black lettering. This sign has twine securely attached for you to hang your clothespins from (this allows for more space and is flexible if the number of grandkids continues to grow!)

This sign is available NOW.

This sign can be customized without any pins, with pins attached directly to the sign, or with the twine.

THIS IS SOLD! This is to give you an example of what the sign looks with the clothespins attached.

Thank you all so much for your continued support of my little business! It's truly a joy!

**All PA sales are subject to a 6% sales tax. Prices are subject to change as time progresses. Please contact me via private message on my Facebook Page with any questions.**